Best excuse to eat Cookies.. Lactation Cookies

When I first had little Eleanor, I had some problems nursing. I googled everything I could imagine. I turned to every mama I knew that nursed. I talked to my Doctor. I talked to my Lactation Consultant. They gave me so much advise, I had no idea what to do with it all. "Take Fenugreek. Take Brewers Yeast. Eat Oatmeal. Drink a beer. Eat your Placenta." Okay, that last one was an exaggeration. But not really. Some people actually do that.
In one of my darkest days, I turned to social media. Turns out, there are a TON of groups on Facebook and Instagram that their sole purpose is to help fellow nursing mama's out with their breastfeeding problems/needs. One of the most common topics on these groups, is how to get a good milk supply going. Most people suggested the usual, Fenugreek, Brewers Yeast, Oatmeal and more. One thing that caught my attention was something called a lactation cookie. Seeing as how the word "cookie" was in the name, it instantly got my attention. Duh.. I started looking into it. Where did I look first? Pinterest, of course.

I found this pretty cool recipe that I tweaked a little bit to my own liking.
You can find the original recipe here, but I put it below, with my revisions added.

3 cups of steel cut/ old fashioned oatmeal (Ive used both, but prefer old fashioned) 

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar

2 eggs (could substitute with coconut oil. Think I will next time, actually.)

1 cup of  chocolate chips ( could substitute with raisins) 

1 cup of butter Salted or unsalted. Your preference 

4 table spoons of water

2-4 tablespoons of Brewers Yeast (be generous)

2-4 tablespoons of Fenugreek powder (I opened up the pills and emptied them into a container. Stored the extra for future use).

2 tablespoons of Flaxseed Meal

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of baking soda

Preparation time is around 15-20  minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
1) Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes.
2) Cream (beat well) butter and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well.
3) Stir flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the butter mix. Beat until blended.
4) Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips.
5) Add to butter mixture. Stir in oats then chips.
6) Scoop or drop onto baking sheet. The dough is a little crumbly, it might be easier if you use a scoop- I just use a spoon- no need to get too  fancy.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies. Makes approximately 3-4 dozen cookies.

*Again, I can only vouch for myself, but this definitely increased my milk supply and it was a delicious treat that was easy to make. 

My finished product. By this time, I only had 4 left. Out of 16. They were just so good!

**Where to Get Brewers Yeast
You can get brewers yeast from health food stores, or in the health food isles of supermarkets. It’s a bit cheaper to buy brewers yeast from supermarkets than from health food stores. 

Brewers yeast comes in two forms. Pill and powder. I got the pill and I crush up the pills into powder when I want some. I keep some crushed in a small container and add it to things like oatmeal, cereal, smoothies and other foods to boost my supply. 

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies at one time. I don't really have the "fat girl mentality" to eat three dozen cookies within the cookie eating window (which is about 5 days in case you were wondering. If they sit out more than that, they start to get stale. And who wants to eat stale cookies?). After I scooped out my dozen or so cookies onto my stone, I got some wax paper out and scooped the rest of the dough into balls and put them in the freezer. Make sure they sit on the wax paper, separated, until they are frozen. That way it won't be a pain when you get them out of the freezer, to bake.

 My frozen cookie balls. All frosty in their little ziplock bag!

I couldn't post a blog without sharing a picture of my Little Lady. And she has something to do with the post.... She is the baby that I am eating these lactation cookies for. =) Here she is in one of my favorite cloth diapers! Isn't that little bum so cute?!

Again, this has got to be the best excuse to eat cookies I have ever heard. To help feed baby! I can honestly say that I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt when I eat one. Or three.
Happy Nursing!